NHASFAA Council Meeting

NHASFAA Council Meeting Franklin Pierce University Concord Center Friday, March 13, 2009

Present: Suzy Allen, Leslie Bembridge, Mike Bourgault, Maureen Fagan, Ken Ferreira, Jay Hauser, Elizabeth Keuffel, Mike Lavasseur, Adriana Mendes, Valerie Patnaude, Kevin Piotrowski, Jennifer Smith

Meeting called to order by President Ferreira at 10:04 a.m.

President Report: Ken Ferreira opened by identifying changes in the NHASFAA Council in recent months due to job losses and/or career choices. Kevin Piotrowski was asked and has accepted to be the Secretary at this time and will participate in the special election next month at the Annual Meeting. Tori Berube was asked and accepted to be the head of the NHASFAA Newsletter Committee for the remainder of the year.

Secretary’s Report: Motion by Suzy to approve NHASFAA Council Meeting minutes from Friday, September 26, 2008; seconded by Leslie and passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report: Ken started discussion to define a budget for the Annual Meeting next month. The cost of this year’s audit looks to be around $2000. The Training Committee will come under their budget projection. The Conference Committee budget reports differ from the Treasurer, but they will be compared and resolved. NHASFAA should come close to the projected budget and may have a surplus. Current income and expenses include $24,387.80 with a current surplus of $7,127.20. Question was asked to identify the amount currently in reserves which is $36,000. Motion by Suzy to approve budget; seconded by Jennifer and passed unanimously.

Past President’s Report: Ken had nothing to report for Clint Hanson except that he will coordinate with Kevin for the special election next month at the Annual Meeting.

Leslie Bembridge and Kristen Purrington will coordinate the NHASFAA Annual Meeting on 4/24/2009 and Leslie asked for speaker suggestions. NASFAA President Phil Day identified by Suzy Allen as possibility and Ken will take lead for reaching out. Ken stated he hopes to meet with Clint to propose changes in by-laws to make the Newsletter a stand alone committee which would separate it from the Secretary’s responsibilities. Ken would also like a stand alone committee responsible for the planning of the Annual Meeting. Conference Committee Report: Jennifer Smith reported 102 registrants at the Annual NHASFAA Conference and had 63 evaluation responses. Positive evaluations included icebreaker activity, music, bags, food, location and rooms while many were not happy with opening session. Overall, 87% approval was obtained. The Conference cost did come in under budget.

The outlook for next year shows conference registrations down across the States. EASFAA is currently struggling and reduced their room block by half. Identified reasons include financial restraints by institutions and current legislative changes. To avoid using NHASFAA reserves, brainstorming began about a one day NHASFAA conference for 2009. Suggestions included SERESC in Bedford, NH as a location, a 9-5 schedule with four break-out sessions, a lunch session for networking instead of a dinner event, no keynote speaker, and to identify a respected luncheon speaker who would draw participants. The Department of Education and the current reauthorization would be a hot topic for administrators.

Valerie Patnaude provided results from a member survey that identified training opportunities of interest. Members would like more training and webinars seem to be the avenue to pursue; since they require no out of office time. Valerie would like to have four webinars annually and Sintrine is a web service that costs $99 a month for use.

Ken recapped all NHASFAA events: one day conference, one day Annual Meeting, four webinars, and three trainings. This would equate to nine initiatives for NHASFAA members which expands opportunities and accommodates the wants of our members.

Development: Leslie Bembridge reported that vending at the annual meeting will continue and the cost for a one day conference needs to be examined. If DL goes through, there is still vending opportunities with guarantors and alternative loan lenders. We should also look at financial aid services that seem to neglect the opportunity even though schools invest in these products. The expectation is that the number of vendors may stay the same or slightly decline for this year’s conference.

EASFAA Update: Ken discussed the EASFAA Conference in DC this May and encouraged participation. EASFAA is planning on lower numbers for this year and next. The EASFAA election concluded with Neville Brown becoming President for the 2010-2011 cycle.

Federal Relations: Ken passed out a handout about the Federal Relations Committee and their continued work with New Hampshire legislation.

Leadership Development: Suzy Allen reported on the Leadership summit which called together FA Directors across NH to discuss NHASFAA involvement. There seemed to be a ‘buy-in’ from the eighteen attendees. The sharing of ideas included a mentoring program, more committees to create ‘baby-steps’ for involvement, marketing ideas (specifically to NH guidance counselors), an aim to increase membership from proprietary schools, and a shared need to groom committee members to future leaders.

Membership: Elizabeth Keuffel reported that membership is down; but identified reasons to be contributed to school closing and personnel changes. She wants to add an addendum to the procedures under Governance to comp membership for presenters at a conference/training event. This will be written up and voted on at the annual retreat. We are currently twenty-eight members below goal.

Multicultural/Diversity: Adriana Mendes did an assessment of the kind of services and information available to minorities in the state and found that there are already two organizations: CCP and the NHCUC providing services and information to minority students in the state. Adriana reported that instead of duplicating services, we could possible partner with them for Destination College or at the College Access Convention to improve those services. Jay Hauser reported that CCP works currently with Esteban Lopez, from the NH College and University Council to reach out to the Latin community and perhaps one way we could assist is helping students in interpreting the award letter. Suzy Allen suggested that CCP work with us since we are the financial aid experts. Adriana is going to research what colleges and universities in NH have an office of Multicultural affairs to get more information on their activities and minority initiatives. Partnership with NH corporations to fund minorities was also suggested.

Action Item: Lisa Jo will be asked to modify NHASFAA membership survey on website to include bi-lingual component.

Newsletter Committee: Tori Berube is currently putting together the latest edition of the NHASFAA newsletter which will include: a letter from Ken, leadership experiences, industry updates, etc.

Action Item: Ask Lisa Jo about the Winter 2009 Newsletter currently not on the website.

Speaker’s Bureau: A report was passed around from Anna Clifford and the most notable item was the number of schools that did not use either NHASFAA or CCP increased to twenty. We need to target these schools in the future if they did not use any, but they will be reviewed first.

A NHASFAA identity crisis was identified and there is a need to market our name. Historically, CCP and NHASAA were interchangeable. Marketing items will be sent to NH guidance counselors to begin the name separation. Discussion then began about the sign up process for the financial aid nights on the NHASFAA website. Action Item: Ask Lisa Jo to investigate ATAC to see how a financial aid night inquiry from our website is channeled.

Training Committee: Val recapped the survey discussed during the Conference Committee Report. Motion made to allow buddy system for future trainings (cost $10.00), seconded and passed unanimously. The survey of reasons for not attending trainings included too busy, short staffed, not enough time, and no money. Our bosses need to know that training is important and vital to our procedures and could impact our schools negatively if knowledge is not known.

Website Committee: Kevin Piotrowski reported for Lisa Jo with the following: The Website committee is currently only two members, and Lisa Jo would like to increase it to be able to work on expanding some of our options. She would like to improve our process for updating the member profile. We need to review the member profile periodically and gather updated information from each member. This would allow us to provide current information especially in regards to our experience and strengths as we reach out to each other for assistance. The balance of the website also needs to be reviewed and updated periodically. With the assistance of a committee, she would like to adopt a procedure of reviewing all areas and bringing suggestions to the Council meetings for discussion. She is currently working on creating a registration form for training events so that registrations can be online.

CSS/FADAC No report.

FFELP/Lender Update: Maureen Fagan highlighted President Obama’s FY10 budget that would eliminate FFELP and then moved on to the PLUS loan auction. The government is moving forward with bids occurring on April 15th and decisions made on April 30th. Chase and Sallie Mae are reportedly not participating. If it is a failed auction, business would go to the Lender of Last Resort bid. Any participant needs to show and commit funding for five years which appears difficult in these economic times.

NHHEAF/Guarantor Update: Mike Lavasseur discussed the PLUS auction further. If there is no Lender of Last Resort, then the PLUS program will adhere to the existing standard. There are rumors to delay implementation but nothing official. Suzy provided the NASFAA perspective which is against the PLUS auction; but no position yet on the FFELP issue. Certification of PLUS loans should continue with the existing process as we progress to July 1, 2009 meaning borrowers have the right to select whichever lender they choose. Lenders are currently certifying PLUS loans for next year as well. NHHEAF CCP: Jay Hauser reported on the success of FAFSA Saturdays with about 550 applications completed in eight weeks. Destination College will be held on March 28, and to date, has 1300 registrants. Patrick Martin will be the keynote speaker for this event. Jay also identified 50 registrants for the Award Letter Workshop that is up-coming. College Prep for Juniors is April 13 which will house workshops and provide great information about Colleges. The College Summer Series is also in full swing for July and August. The hope is to have thirty-eight schools participate; as the number to date is twenty-two. CCP will be teaming up with the NH Post Secondary Commission for College Access in the North Country. Josh Ship will be the motivational speaker for STAR – Foster Youth whish is slated for May 16. The CU for Reality Fair is up-coming with the Credit Union Association which focuses on the reality of a four year college plan, credit union fairs, and the actual cost of life after College.

Additional Business: Ken reported the 2008 Audit process is on-going. Elizabeth and Leslie volunteered to head the committee for the Reynolds Award recipient recommendation. The by-laws will be reviewed and discussed with Clint, and Suzy will continue to work with the marketing plan to resolve the NHASFAA identity crisis.

Meeting adjourned at 12:13 p.m.; motion by Suzy, seconded by Elizabeth and passed unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Kevin Piotrowski